Friday 29th October 2005
Weird Primary
Friday led primary with David was very unconventional this morning, not an Ashtanga class at all really.
At one point in the class we were lined up at one end of the shala and had to waltz step our way forward to the other end. Most people looked really awkward and stiff with the unfamiliar, looser dance-like movements as David tried to get us to swing the hips from side to side as we stepped diagonally forward. Maybe I did too but it felt natural and lovely for me to dance and flow like that so I forgot the objective and just let the music in my hips move me.
The objective (I think) was to learn how to move our weight side to side through the swing of our hips, rather than moving our feet then following with our bodyweight.
Then we did it with a partner, hands on each others shoulders and waltzing forward (or backward, depending which way you were facing) to the other end of the room. David even put on classical waltz music for the exercise.
Standing poses were done from an unconventional foot position; before reaching down to grab the big toe in Trikonasana the feet were so placed that the left foot was close to left side of mat and the right foot close to right side of mat instead of down the centre line.
In Prasaritta Padottanasana, the foot position was skewed as well, with one foot forward, and one foot back (so the heel of the forward foot lined up with the toes of the backward foot). To compensate, one hand was placed forward of its usual position on the mat and one was back, creating a diagonal line between them instead of a horizontal one.
And Parsvottanasana – we started by standing at the front of the mat with our feet hip distance apart, then keeping the left foot pointing forward, we swivelled on the right heel to turn the right toes out to 90 degrees (therefore the heels were only about one foot apart), we placed our hands in the usual position up the back, turned to face the right leg and down we went, head to knee. Iyengis would be horrified at this exaggerated short stance.
In between these unorthodox versions of the standing poses we did 5 Dog Pose jumps, starting from a position like Pada Hastasana, but with the hands flat to the floor and feet directly behind the hands so that the toes were bent up the back of the wrists; knees were kept bent. On the inhalation we jumped back to a bent knee, domed-spine, crouching kind of short Dog Pose, on the exhalation we jumped forward to the hands, landing with the feet apart, toes up the back of the wrists, knees bent. We did 5 of these quick jumps between all our standing poses and my breath rhythm got confused a couple of times because I’m so used to inhaling on the jump forward.
And so it went on.
It was more of an explorative movement/body class than a yoga class. But fun nevertheless.
The point of the class had something to do with the outer hips but I never quite understood what I was supposed to be focussing on here. I suspect the hip focus will surface in the Mysore classes so I should get another chance to understand the message David’s trying to get across.
Friday is almost religiously led Primary for Ashtangis, so the class wasn’t what I was expecting this morning. But damn it was good to be there anyway. I love the shala in the early mornings. We could have done belly dancing or kickboxing and I’d have been happy to be there.
Having missed out on a traditional Ashtanga practice today, I’m REALLY looking forward to doing morning Mysore classes next week. And I hear that David and Simi are team teaching in the mornings so everyone gets double attention which also means a blend of their expertise, both unconventional and traditional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Weird Primary
Friday led primary with David was very unconventional this morning, not an Ashtanga class at all really.
At one point in the class we were lined up at one end of the shala and had to waltz step our way forward to the other end. Most people looked really awkward and stiff with the unfamiliar, looser dance-like movements as David tried to get us to swing the hips from side to side as we stepped diagonally forward. Maybe I did too but it felt natural and lovely for me to dance and flow like that so I forgot the objective and just let the music in my hips move me.
The objective (I think) was to learn how to move our weight side to side through the swing of our hips, rather than moving our feet then following with our bodyweight.
Then we did it with a partner, hands on each others shoulders and waltzing forward (or backward, depending which way you were facing) to the other end of the room. David even put on classical waltz music for the exercise.
Standing poses were done from an unconventional foot position; before reaching down to grab the big toe in Trikonasana the feet were so placed that the left foot was close to left side of mat and the right foot close to right side of mat instead of down the centre line.
In Prasaritta Padottanasana, the foot position was skewed as well, with one foot forward, and one foot back (so the heel of the forward foot lined up with the toes of the backward foot). To compensate, one hand was placed forward of its usual position on the mat and one was back, creating a diagonal line between them instead of a horizontal one.
And Parsvottanasana – we started by standing at the front of the mat with our feet hip distance apart, then keeping the left foot pointing forward, we swivelled on the right heel to turn the right toes out to 90 degrees (therefore the heels were only about one foot apart), we placed our hands in the usual position up the back, turned to face the right leg and down we went, head to knee. Iyengis would be horrified at this exaggerated short stance.
In between these unorthodox versions of the standing poses we did 5 Dog Pose jumps, starting from a position like Pada Hastasana, but with the hands flat to the floor and feet directly behind the hands so that the toes were bent up the back of the wrists; knees were kept bent. On the inhalation we jumped back to a bent knee, domed-spine, crouching kind of short Dog Pose, on the exhalation we jumped forward to the hands, landing with the feet apart, toes up the back of the wrists, knees bent. We did 5 of these quick jumps between all our standing poses and my breath rhythm got confused a couple of times because I’m so used to inhaling on the jump forward.
And so it went on.
It was more of an explorative movement/body class than a yoga class. But fun nevertheless.
The point of the class had something to do with the outer hips but I never quite understood what I was supposed to be focussing on here. I suspect the hip focus will surface in the Mysore classes so I should get another chance to understand the message David’s trying to get across.
Friday is almost religiously led Primary for Ashtangis, so the class wasn’t what I was expecting this morning. But damn it was good to be there anyway. I love the shala in the early mornings. We could have done belly dancing or kickboxing and I’d have been happy to be there.
Having missed out on a traditional Ashtanga practice today, I’m REALLY looking forward to doing morning Mysore classes next week. And I hear that David and Simi are team teaching in the mornings so everyone gets double attention which also means a blend of their expertise, both unconventional and traditional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
